Interrogation Secret Art

"You..." Seeing Xiao Yan kill the strongest elder so cleanly and decisively, the other followers froze in place. Only when Xiao Yan turned his gaze toward them did they come to their senses and try to flee. But they had barely turned around before Xiao Yan appeared at the entrance, smiling at them.

"Since you're already here, why rush to leave?" Xiao Yan drew the Xuan Heavy Ruler and blocked the entrance. "Don't worry. You're a little luckier than those two. I'll do my best to make sure you die before you feel any pain."

The remaining men were filled with terror as they looked at Xiao Yan blocking their escape. But they also knew that their only chance of survival was to break past him. They immediately unleashed their strongest Dou Techniques at Xiao Yan, not to defeat him, but merely to force him back so they could escape.

Facing their attacks, Xiao Yan gave a cold chuckle. He did not even form Dou Qi Armor to defend himself. He merely opened his mouth, and an invisible sound wave rapidly spread outward, directly dispersing their Dou Technique attacks. Even after shattering their attacks, the sound wave lost none of its force and struck their bodies head-on.

High-grade Black Tier Dou Technique: Mad Lion's Roar!

Under this terrifying sonic attack, the members of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect, all of whom were at least peak Da Dou Shi, were left dizzy and disoriented. Blood even flowed from their mouths and noses. Before they could recover, Xiao Yan swept out with the Xuan Heavy Ruler, cleaving every man before him in two at the waist.

In less than a minute, Xiao Yan and the Green-Clothed Girl were the only ones still standing inside the tent. His terrifying strength left the girl somewhat dazed. When she had first rushed into the tent, she had indeed intended to muddy the waters and create a chance to escape her pursuers. She had never imagined this fellow would be so absurdly powerful that he would wipe them all out.

Xiao Yan waved his hand, and purple-black flames surged forth, burning all the corpses to ashes. Only then did he slowly approach the Young Gate Master. The fellow had a tenacious hold on life. Even after taking a barrage of heavy punches from Xiao Yan and being stomped on with Burst Step, he had not died on the spot. Although he clearly did not have long to live, Xiao Yan would not lower his guard because of that.

"Do... do you know who I am? If you kill me, my father won't let you off!" Seeing Xiao Yan draw closer, the Young Gate Master of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect struggled to speak.

"That same tired old line again. Tell me, did all of you have the same language teacher?" Xiao Yan shook his head and smiled. "Of course I know who you are. You're the Young Gate Master of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect, aren't you? I gave you a chance. You simply didn't cherish it."

"Honestly, I wasn't even going to bother with you, but you bastards just had to provoke me. Do you really think I'm that good-tempered?" Muttering away, Xiao Yan raised his foot and stomped down hard on the Young Gate Master's skull. "Only now, with death staring you in the face, do you bring up your father. If he really comes knocking, I won't mind slaughtering him too and sending you off to a family reunion. Do you really think I'm afraid of your so-called Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect?"

After crushing the Young Gate Master's skull underfoot, Xiao Yan let out a long breath. Slaughter really was the best way to vent. After that utterly merciless massacre, the agitation inside him had eased considerably. Had he known it would work so well, he would not have needed to suppress himself. He could simply have gone out and slaughtered to his heart's content.

"Miss, could you tell me who you are, exactly? Why were they trying to kill you?" After casually burning the remaining corpse, Xiao Yan turned to look at the Green-Clothed Girl.

While Xiao Yan had been dealing with the barely breathing Young Gate Master of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect, the Green-Clothed Girl had planned to slip away while he was distracted. She had almost reached the tent's entrance when Xiao Yan suddenly called out to her, bringing her departing footsteps to an abrupt halt.

Having witnessed the earlier battle, she naturally had some idea of Xiao Yan's terrifying strength. Although her own strength was lacking, she had cultivated certain profound movement Dou Techniques, which was how she had nearly escaped those members of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect.

But Xiao Yan was a different matter. The speed he had displayed earlier could undoubtedly allow him to kill her in an instant. She had no confidence that she could escape from someone who had so effortlessly butchered several members of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect.

Given the circumstances, she quickly made her choice and obediently answered his questions. "My name is Ye Xiaolian. I'm a mercenary. Those fellows from the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect were hunting me because I obtained a treasure map."

"A treasure map? What is it a map to?" Xiao Yan raised his brows slightly. Based on past experience, something appearing at a time like this was most likely connected to the Heavenly Scorpion Tomb Mansion. Could the Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast have other treasures as well?

"I don't know either." Ye Xiaolian shook her head. She was not foolish enough to tell Xiao Yan something like that. What if he suddenly took it into his head to steal her treasure too?

"Do you really not know?" Xiao Yan stared into Ye Xiaolian's eyes and chuckled softly. A faint light seemed to quietly kindle in his eyes. At the sight of that dim glow, Ye Xiaolian's mind grew hazy, and her gaze gradually turned blank. "Of course I do."

"Oh? Then could you tell me what this treasure map leads to?" Xiao Yan continued asking. From the moment the Green-Clothed Girl had tried to divert the flood of trouble toward him and make him fight the members of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect, he had known that this girl was not as easy to fool as Xiao Yi Xian. Getting a few honest words out of her would be impossible. Thus, Xiao Yan had never intended to talk things through properly. Instead, he used an Interrogation Secret Art he had learned in his previous life.

The effect of this interrogation art was simple, resembling a form of hypnosis. By sending soul force into another person's body and influencing their mind, the user could make them obediently reveal whatever he wanted to know. Of course, the prerequisite for this Interrogation Secret Art was that the user's soul force had to far surpass the target's. Otherwise, there was a risk of backlash.

However, Xiao Yan's current soul force was already at the pinnacle among Sixth-Rank Alchemists. In terms of soul force alone, there was probably no one in the entire Chu Yun Empire who could match him. Ye Xiaolian was not particularly strong, and her soul force was inferior even to that of Alchemical Apprentices, so there was naturally no possibility of backlash. Thus, the instant Xiao Yan deployed the secret art, she fell under its control.